The List: 8 Dec 1989 (Issue 110)

I The Glenn Miller Story ( U) (Anthony Mann. US. 1954) James Stewart.June Allyson. Harry Morgan. Geaorge Tobias. 116 mins. Stewart is the unfailingly chummy band leader with the relentlessly practical wife. who makes it to the topand then takes one plane ride too many. A must-see for fans of the big band sound of the late Mr Miller. Edinburgh: Broughton Film Society.

I Good Morning Vietnam ( 15) (Barry Levinson. US. 1987) Robin Williams. Forrest Whitaker. Tung Thanh Tran. 121 mins. At last getting the specially tailored role his comic talent deserves. Williams gives a dazzling performance as the iconoclastic armed forces radio disc jockey Adrian Cronauer. assigned to 1965 Saigon. His morning show. with its healthy doses of soul music and irreverent humour. explodes the authorities‘ notions of broadcasting. but makes him a hero among the troops. A worthy success. though the film‘s attempts to examine the clash of cultures and the escalation of conﬂict fall a little ﬂat. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.

I Heathers ( 15) (Michael Lehman. US. 1989) Winona Ryder. Christian Slater. Lisanne Falk. 102 mins. An ultrablack parody of the high school tecnﬂick. Lehman‘s first feature film manages to combine box office success with artisth merit. This cult hip hit of the year has Slater and Ryder starting a suicide craze to muscle in on the cliquey Heathers running the joint. Tune in. turn on. drop dead. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge. GFT.

I lndlana Jones And The Last Crusade ( PG) (Steven Spielberg. US. 1989) Harrison Ford. Sean Connery. Alison Doody. Denholm Elliot. 127 mins. The third and supposedly final instalment of Spielberg's blockbuster series. in which the archaeological adventurer is joined by his father (Connery) for a romp through the Middle East in search ofthc Holy Grail. hotly pursued (as ever) by the Nazis. A rather dodgy quasi-Christian morality and a more-of-the-samc-ish plot are offset by strong performances from Ford and Connery and technical bravura. Edinburgh: Dominion.

I I WasA Male War Bride (PG) (Howard Hawks. US, 1949) Cary Grant. Ann Sheridan. Marion Marshall. 106 mins. Grant plays a priggish French army officer who discovers — to his dismay and increasing frustration — that to follow his American lieutenant back to the States. he has to battle all the forces ofbureaucracy. a struggle that is eventually to lead him into disguise by cross-dressing. Rumbustious Hawksian romantic comedy set against realistic backgrounds. Glasgow: GFT.

I Jaws (PG) (Steven Spielberg. US. 1975) Roy Scheidcr. Robert Shaw. Richard Dreyfuss. 125 mins. Cracking shark adventure from the days when Spielberg movies were scary. See the citizens of Amity scream! Watch the bodycount pile up! Hear the authorities declare the water perfectly safe (get the feeling you might have heard this more recently? )! Call me Ishmael. Edinburgh University Film Society.

THE DIREAM TEAM

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The Dream Team (15) (Howard Ziell, USA, 1989) Michael Keaton, Peter Boyle, Christopher Lloyd, Stephen Furst. 112 mins. The Dream Team is a worthy film for exploring the character of tour psychiatric patients but fails overall to create concern lor any of them, leaving us with a tired, delapidated piece of film-making.

Billy (Keaton), Henry (Lloyd), Jack (Boyle) and Albert (Furst) are long term residents of a New Jersey psychiatric institution. All they have in common is an inability to cope with reality and theirtherapy group run by Dr Weitzman (a notable performance by Dennis Boutsiltaris). He couldn‘t have a broader spectrum of lunacy between them. Albert is depressive and never speaks, Jack, an ex-copywriter tried to throw an advertising executive out of a window. Consequently he thinks he's Jesus Christ. Henry, former postman has an identity crisis, thinking he’s anotherdoctor. Flnallythere’sthe surprising acting ability of Michael Keaton (alias Batman) as Billy, more together than the others but with violent tendencies.

DrWeitzman sees real progress in the group. As part reward/part therapy he takes them on a day trip to watch a baseball match. Unfortunately the trip gets out of hand when Albert takes a leak and Dr Weitzman mysteriously disappears. The film now becomes part

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thriller as they uncover inner-city corruption, violence and a world that is crazier than themselves. This latter aspect is the film's saving grace as it constantly underlines the tact that they are emotional human beings with potential and intelligence. The coup de grace of this idea is witnessing real doctors committed to an asylum and turning into dithering idiots.

What I haven't stated so far is that it is meant to be a comedy. Sadly, this particular medium of expression is either inappropriate or mishandled as, rather than falling on its lace, fails to illicit a response. The real and occasional joy of the film is its sentimental side, each character returning to a part of his past— particularly Keaton who's ex-girltriend Riley (Lorraine Bracco) is one of the highlights of the film as she was in Ridley Scott’s Someone To Watch Over Me.

The Dream Team is an interesting film but unfunny, excepting the occasional religious rantings by Boyle. Had the film been treated as a serious exploration of internal pain and conflict it may have turned out more watchable. (Dylan Matthew)

I Jean De Florette (PG) (Claude Berri. France. 1986) Gerard Depardieu. Yves Montand. Daniel Auteuil. 121 mins. Provence. during the 1920s. Depardieu's indomitable hunchback struggles against impossible odds to make a success ofhis inherited farmland. unaware that his neighbours are plotting to drive him from his land. Beautifully photographed. with flawless performances. this is a towering tribute to the highest aspirations oflt‘rench storytelling. A BAF'TA winner for the film ofthc year. Glasgow: (if-'1‘.

young martial arts expert agrees against his mentor‘s advice to take part in another karate tournament. but the source ofthc pressure placed upon him can be traced back to unscrupulous millionaire Silver (Thomas). whose hobby seems to be turning innocent young lads to nastiness. The fight sequences. as ever. are the highlights. but the signs are there ofa

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certain running out of creative steam. Central: Cannon.

I K-9 (PG) (Rod Daniel. US. 1989)Jim Belushi. Jerry Lee The German Shepherd. 102 mins. An ever-so-subtle twist on the cop buddy movie has unconventional narcotics tec Belushi reluctantly teamed up with a drug-sniffing alsatian from the K-9 department. The same plot as usual follows: suspiciousof each other at first. they help each other through a series ofscrapes and gradually learn mutual respect etc. Of course the dog steals the acting honours. After equal billing with Schwarzenegger on Red Hear. Belushi had to be looking for a newagent. Central: Caledonian.

I Kiss DlThe Spiderwoman ( 15) (Hector Babenco. US-Brazil. 1985) William Hurt. Raul Julia. Sonia Braga. 119 mins. Two men share a prison cell. each of them in their own way victims ofan unspecified fascist regime. One is a ﬂamboyant homosexual. the other a macho revolutionary. The pain oftheir confinement eventually brings mutual understanding. love. and a change of

roles. Glasgow: GFT.

I Labyrinth (PG) (Terry Jones. US. 1986) David Bowie. Jennifer Connelly. 101 mins. Teenage girl has her baby bruv kidnapped by demon Dave. the King Of The Goblins. and so has to enterthe fiendish labyrinth to get him back. Not bad family feature. with plenty offurry creatures to keep the kids happy. Strathclyde: Odeon Ayr.

I Lady And The Tramp (L') (Hamilton Luskc. US. 1955) With the voices of Peggy Lee and Bill Thompson. 75 mins. Disney‘s first animated feature in cinemascope has mongrel Tramp helping pedigree pooch Lady out ofa sticky situation and fallingin lurve along the way. Richly drawn with hummable tunes and endearing characterisations, this is the classic Disney mix as before. Lovely spaghetti-eating sequence. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge. I Last Tango in Paris ( ls) (Bernardo Bertolucci. France/Italy. 1973) Marlon Brando. Maria Schneider. 130 mins. A young Parisienne meets a middle-aged man with whom she develops an increasingly violent and purely sexual relationship. One of the key films ofits decade. Bertolucci's powerful drama is a meditation on the expression and communication of personal identity through intense sexual contact. Edinburgh: Cameo.

I La Lectrice (Michel Deville. France. 1988) Miou-Miou. Christian Ruche. Patrick Chesnais. 98 mins. Bookworm Miou-Miou lives in a (lemi mondt’ between real life and the imaginative fantasies spawned by her reading. Persuaded by a friend to read aloud for a living. she forms a number of bizarre relationships with her various clients. and there follows a witty. erotic and absorbing tapestry woven from the threads ofmundane reality and curious fiction. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.

I Life DlBrian (15)(TerryJones. UK. 1979) Graham Chapman. TerryJones. John Cleese. Michael Palin. Eric Idle. 93 mins. The Gospel According to Monty Python offended a whole host of religious dominations upon its initial release. which rather obscured the fact that behind the controversy lay their most sustained humour to date. A host of very funny setpieces and smart cameos from all the team climaxes in a rather fetching musical crucifixion. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.

I Lile Is A Long Duiet River ( 15) (Etienne Chatiliez. France. 1988) Benoit Maginel. Patrick Gelin. Andre Wilms. 99 mins. Loosely based on the Mark Twain novel. Pudd'nhead Wilson. an embittered nurse does the old swapperoo with the offspring of two very different families. Trouble results when she reveals her trick twelve years later. and the richer Le Quesnoys learn they are nurturing one ofthc sleazy Groseilles and vice versa. The humour relies heavily on characterisation. rather than the slick succession of sight gags that a Hollywood film-maker would wring from it. Maginel and Wilms are outstanding. however. Glasgow: OFT.

I LililB Dorrit (U) (Christine Edzard. UK. 1987) Derek Jacobi. Alec Guinness. Sarah Pickering. Part One: Nobody's Fault ( 176 mins). Part Two: Little Dorrit‘s Story ( 181 mins). Dickens' complex novel about the grim social duplicity of Victorian London is beautifully translated. in a film focusing on the central relationship between Arthur Clennam and Little Dorrit. yet still conveying the scope. detail and changing perspectives of the original. Asthcir tentative romance blossoms, a vivid. scathing picture is woven ofscandalous landlords. impenetrable bureaucracy and parasitic wealth. The parallels with Britain today are startling. Edinburgh: Film Guild.